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Thursday, February 5, 2015

Superman #38 Review

You Dropped a Bomb on Me, Baby

The "Men of Tomorrow" arc has been good, but I have to admit that I expected a whole lot more. I'm sure most people did when it was announced that Geoff Johns and John Romita Jr were at the helm, but the story of Ulysses (I prefer Neil, by the way) and Superman's friendship never felt as epic as the creative team seemed to want everyone to believe. Last issue, we finally got to see the nefarious plan of Ulysses and his fourth dimension cohorts and if anyone was surprised, I have some swampland in Florida to sell them. Of course, being predictable doesn't always mean being bad and I didn't mind watching Superman foil the plan or Ulysses destroy his home world. Of course, something like that doesn't happen in a vacuum and this issue is all about repercussions and fallout. It begins with a huge fight and ends with a questionable reveal and we get a new Super Power and Costume in between. There was a whole lot to process in this issue, but was it good? Let's talk about it, shall we?

Ulysses is pissed. He trusted Superman to let millions die to fuel his home world. He don't know Superman to well, do he?!?! Questionable logic aside, I grew to like Ulysses and here we finally get to see him as an all out villain. It suits him well as him and Superman kick each others ass through dimensions and all over Earth. I know it's been addressed before, but my favorite part of the fight is when Superman forces Ulysses to battle away from any populated area. No matter what you do, Geoff Johns, you can't undue that damaging fight at the end of Man of Steel...but I like that you try.

The fight is a back-and-forth affair which is understandable knowing Ulysses' powerset. That is until Geoff Johns and Superman show off a new power that changes everything. I won't spoil it (though DC seems to have done a good enough job of that already), but I will tell you that I'm not overly impressed. A new power is fine and dandy, but this one feels more like an upgraded version of an old one than something fresh. I do like the aftereffects of it, however, and loved where Superman ends up after using it.

Superman wakes up in the Batcave and Batman explains what happened. Superman did indeed defeat Ulysses and he is being held on Stryker's Island. After talking to his frenemy, Clark heads off to do some work at his new/old job at the Daily Planet. I hope Cat Grant isn't too upset (remember when they could have sold CatClarkTropolis.com for millions? Woops!!), but that whole blogging thing is for suckers. It's nice to have Clark back where he belongs and I loved the interaction between Clark and Jimmy Olsen. Speaking of Jimmy...

Geoff Johns corrects another crazy plot line when Jimmy donates the billions his Parents left him to the people in need from that whole failed Forth Dimension thing. Again, I'm glad that Johns stepped in and righted this wrong. Nobody really knew what to do with the Billionaire Jimmy story anyway.

The issue then ends with two reveals that are rolled up into one. Superman reveals his new costume. I'm not a guy who goes crazy over the threads my heroes wear so take it with a grain of salt when I say that the new look is okay, but nothing great. However, You can take my word that it is crazy who Superman shows the new costume too. It's a game changer that opens up so many possibilities and feels very classic to me.

This issue may have been the end to the Men of Tomorrow arc, but that felt secondary to all the things that happen. A new power, a different costume and someone knowing Superman's secret identity is huge beyond just this one story and really make me excited for this book going forward. However, It did feel like Johns may have thrown all this in to get a bigger bang out of this story which really did need a spark to put it over the hump.

I have gone hot and cold with John Romita Jr's art. The big news was JR drawing Batman and I really did like that. In fact, besides his post fight Ulysses, this may be my favorite art from him up to now.

Bits and Pieces:
This issue may end the Men of Tomorrow story, but at points, you could have fooled me. Geoff Johns uses this issue to present a new power and costume and change the very nature of the book. I can't say that I don't like the changes, it's just that it all felt a bit forced. I'm back on the John Romita Bandwagon for now and I can't wait to see what all these changes do to the book going forward.

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